Yogurt maker reccomendations

[Marnica]

I want to start making yogurt at home. I know you can make it without a yogurt maker, but since I work F/T, having something that can make it while I am away (like a crock pot!) is appealing to me.

I heard yolife was a good brand....anyone else have any reccomendations??

TIA

[cristeen]

I really wouldn't get a yogurt maker personally - they're single use appliances, and I just don't have the room in my kitchen for those. I make yogurt in my crockpot (you want one with a "warm" setting, not just high/low), or in a glass bowl with a heating pad. Both work perfectly.

If that doesn't work for you, I'd look into room temperature yogurt cultures, you can find them at Cultures for Life. They don't need to be kept warm to ferment.

[Marnica]

Originally Posted by cristeen

I really wouldn't get a yogurt maker personally - they're single use appliances, and I just don't have the room in my kitchen for those. I make yogurt in my crockpot (you want one with a "warm" setting, not just high/low), or in a glass bowl with a heating pad. Both work perfectly.

If that doesn't work for you, I'd look into room temperature yogurt cultures, you can find them at Cultures for Life. They don't need to be kept warm to ferment.

What do you mean single use appliances....I think you can make fairly large batches from what I read...

How would you make it in the crockpot??

[AllieFaye]

Single use appliance? Oh, no. I'm constantly using mine. I make so much more yogurt that I used to buy, now that I have one. Then, when it's not culturing yogurt, I used it for my other cultures in shorter time. Plus, I have a cold kitchen six months of the year; room temperature cultures would take too long then. I love that I can set in a glass quart-sized jar of pickles or salsa or whatever and have them ready for supper instead of three days hence. My yogurt maker (Salton, quart sized, btw) is the best money I ever spent in the kitchen, right up there with the yogurt strainer (for all the whey for the culturing) and NT.

[Erinz]

AllieFaye that is brilliant to use it for culturing other stuff! I am totally haviing a moment now! I just waited a WEEK for my raw milk to separate because it's been on the chilly side here!

I have the Yobaby and really like it because it came with the taller dome option which I use for making larger amounts. It fits small bowls and mason jars.

[dogmom327]

I think when she said single use appliance she meant that a yogurt maker can only be used to make yogurt (it's a uni-tasker) where a crock pot or a bowl with heating pad can be used for other tasks when not being used to make yogurt.

The only thing you want to double check if you use a non-yogurt making appliance is that the temperature isn't too high and stays fairly constant. Maybe a day when you're around for a few hours, set up the appliance (crock-pot, bowl with water, etc.) with just water and takes it's temperature every hour or so for a few hours to make sure it's maintaining a constant temperature. You want about 110 degrees for thermophilic (heat loving) cultures although most will be okay as low as 105 and up to 115. If you go much lower than 105, you risk the yogurt culture not multiplying fast enough to overtake the building milk bacteria and if the temp is too high, it can kill the culture.

[cristeen]

Originally Posted by Marnica

What do you mean single use appliances....I think you can make fairly large batches from what I read...

How would you make it in the crockpot??

A single use appliance is one that serves only 1 purpose, it does not multi-task. My kitchen is too small and cramped for "unitaskers" as Alton Brown calls them.

In a Crockpot with a warm setting, fill it with water, put a quart mason jar with your milk/yogurt mixture in (I cover with cloth, you don't want o put the lid on, it traps heat). Set the crockpot to warm, leave the lid off and walk away. I leave it for 24 hours, come back to beautiful yogurt. And I can still use the Crockpot to make dinner the next night.

[Marnica]

Originally Posted by cristeen

A single use appliance is one that serves only 1 purpose, it does not multi-task. My kitchen is too small and cramped for "unitaskers" as Alton Brown calls them.

In a Crockpot with a warm setting, fill it with water, put a quart mason jar with your milk/yogurt mixture in (I cover with cloth, you don't want o put the lid on, it traps heat). Set the crockpot to warm, leave the lid off and walk away. I leave it for 24 hours, come back to beautiful yogurt. And I can still use the Crockpot to make dinner the next night.

I do have a crockpot with a warm setting....so I am going to attempt to make yougurt using coconut milk (no dairy in our house). So I just find a recipie, mix it up and put it in there in a mason jar like you said??

[CoBabyMaker]

I do have a crockpot with a warm setting....so I am going to attempt to make yougurt using coconut milk (no dairy in our house). So I just find a recipie, mix it up and put it in there in a mason jar like you said??

I have been playing with coconut yogurt and THIS is the "recipe" I have found to work best. The Tapioca starch really helps the consistency and I also find that the brand of coconut milk makes a difference. Thai Kitchen seems to works best. I use a Donvier yogurt maker and process for 15 hours. (The yogurt maker was a gift, I'm not sure I would have it otherwise)

[tinuviel_k]

I love my yogurt maker, and the way I use it it is definitely not a single use appliance. In fact, I have four distinct uses for mine.

*I use it to make yogurt (of course.)
* I use it to infuse my herbal medicinal oils. It holds at the perfect temperature for a long, slow infusion of medicinal herb properties into oils without damaging or cooking the oil. It works amazingly well with my calendula, St. John's wort, cottonwood, and comfrey oils this year.
* I also make amazing porcini mushroom infused olive oil in the incubator that I use for holiday gifts every year.
* It is the absolute BEST for gently warming and liquefying crystallized honey. Since the yogurt maker stays at a pretty low temp (mine is 110 F) it does not cook the raw honey or destroy the enzymes, which can happen easily if you try to warm honey on the stove.

I have the older Salton that allows you to use a quart mason jar to make yogurt in. (I found the incubators with individual cups to be useless). I don't thing they make it any more, but I did find this yogurt maker, the Yolife: http://www.healthytraders.com/tribes...10-p-2655.html

If/when my current yogurt makers breaks I have my eye on the Yolife yogurt maker. It can hold three quart jars, which really appeals to me, as we go through a lot of yogurt.

[dogmom327]

Originally Posted by tinuviel_k

I love my yogurt maker, and the way I use it it is definitely not a single use appliance. In fact, I have four distinct uses for mine.

*I use it to make yogurt (of course.)
* I use it to infuse my herbal medicinal oils. It holds at the perfect temperature for a long, slow infusion of medicinal herb properties into oils without damaging or cooking the oil. It works amazingly well with my calendula, St. John's wort, cottonwood, and comfrey oils this year.
* I also make amazing porcini mushroom infused olive oil in the incubator that I use for holiday gifts every year.
* It is the absolute BEST for gently warming and liquefying crystallized honey. Since the yogurt maker stays at a pretty low temp (mine is 110 F) it does not cook the raw honey or destroy the enzymes, which can happen easily if you try to warm honey on the stove.

I have the older Salton that allows you to use a quart mason jar to make yogurt in. (I found the incubators with individual cups to be useless). I don't thing they make it any more, but I did find this yogurt maker, the Yolife: http://www.healthytraders.com/tribes...10-p-2655.html

If/when my current yogurt makers breaks I have my eye on the Yolife yogurt maker. It can hold three quart jars, which really appeals to me, as we go through a lot of yogurt.

Awesome ideas for using the yogurt maker!

[Gladiolus]

I make yogurt in quart size glass jars and use a cooler! It works so well for us - I make 4 quarts at a time and use 2 jars of hot water in the cooler too, to keep it warm enough. 8 hours in the cooler and I have yogurt.

[californiajenn]

My favorite method is stick it in the oven with the light on. This would work for all the other "yogurt maker uses" as well. If your oven is occupied, put it in a cooler with a jar of hot water. If you don't have a small cooler, put a 40 W small lamp in a box (or just the bulb portion) and leave your yogurt in there. I used to work full time and made yogurt in the oven all the time.

[ema-adama]

Not sure if this helps, as it is very low tech. I put the milk and starter in a glass jar (at approx 37 celcius), wrap it up in a duvet/blankets and 24 hrs later I have thick yummy yogurt. I don't do anything other than warm the milk, stir in the starter and put it in the fridge when it is ready.